Page 63 of A Lab Rat's Guide to Fated Love
“The reviews for the mushroom cheese dosa here are crazy. Let’s try that,” she said, putting her phone away and stepping in queue to wait for their turn.
Once seated, each of them ordered an individual dosa set, complete with mashed potatoes, sambar, three different chutneys, and a tall glass of spiced buttermilk on the side. Vir added a spicy vegetable curry to their order that was highlighted aschef’s specialon the menu.
He dipped his dosa into the curry, took a large bite, and a split second later, his mouth was on fire. As were his esophagus and every other connected passageway in his body.
“Don’t eat that if you can’t handle spice,” Nori said, her gaze alternating between the curry and his bright red face.
“It’s nothing.” Vir huffed. While he liked spicy food, the abomination in front of him wasn’t spicy. It was straight up lava in a bowl. “I love spice. Watch.”
Nori pursed her lips, trying not to laugh, while he swallowed a few more mouthfuls.
“Argh.” He swore, downing his entire glass of buttermilk before reaching for Nori’s and downing that, too.
“Stop torturing yourself!” She burst out laughing. “Your whole face is leaking.”
She was right. Itwasleaking—snot, sweat, and tears.
Vir inhaled through his mouth while the pufferfish inside his chest bloated happily as he watched her laugh. He let his runny nose flow downward before snorting it back up again.
Nori clutched her sides, laughing harder than before.
“Stop it,” she finally managed, barely composing herself. She grabbed a bunch of tissues from a just vacated table nearby and passed those to him. “Seriously, Vir. I know you’re doing it on purpose.”
He shrugged, wiping his face clean. “I had to make sure you recognized me as your first love.”
“You’re gross.”
He shrugged again. “You’d still kiss me, though. Snot and all.”
“Never.” She giggled.
Nori
The next few weeks went byin a blur.
Nori kept expecting Vir to turn away from her, now that he knew about her past and the baggage she carried. But for some unfathomable reason, his demeanor towards her remained unchanged. For the most part.
She suspected there was something seriously wrong with him—some old brain injury resurfacing maybe, or a side effect from the mites she wasn’t aware of. Or maybe… maybe he truly thought he was in love with her. All of her. And he thought wrong. Because he was going to spot the flaws in his perception and come around to a more realistic conclusion soon. She just had to give it time.
The only noticeable difference in Vir’s behavior was how delicately he’d started treating her. It was subtle, but she couldtell right away how he was too careful of their proximity. Overly cautious of his movements around her. Like she’d break if his arm merely brushed against hers.
She felt like she should be grateful for his concern, but the tiptoeing only made her annoyed. And guiltier.
Vir seeing her realistically was a certainty she knew was going to happen sooner or later. He was going to see her someday, really, truly see—with all her flaws and scars and everything. And his rose-tinted glasses would finally come off.
He’d leave then. And it’d wreck her.
She couldn’t refute the inevitability of it. And there was no point in hoping for a different outcome for the doomed trajectory she was setting herself on, knowing fully well it was going to lead to nothing but heartbreak.
Yet, just for a little while, she wanted to be reckless. And she wanted to be selfish. She wanted to allow herself to have a taste of everything she desired, but was never going to have as hers.
She had her Plan-A patiently waiting for her forafterwards—a life somewhere far off in the mountains as the single, old, scientist lady with her army of spoiled cats to keep her company.
“Vir…” she finally confronted him one day.
“Hmm?”
“I know you’re trying to be careful. And it’s… thoughtful of you. But I need you to stop tiptoeing around me. Please.”
